Final Four is set for the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship as St. Joseph, Spotswood, Middlesex, Edison all advance

There will be no Number One seed, or a Number Two, but the four teams that will play Saturday for a trip to the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament Championship Game all would be well-deserving of not just a berth in the finals, but the title itself.

Fifth-seed St. Joseph of Metuchen – which needed nine-innings to beat 12-seed Metuchen in walk-off fashion Wednesday – will face 8th-seed Spotswood in the 2:30 pm semifinal at East Brunswick Magnet School, while the noon game will feature two double-digit seeds: 10-seed Middlesex and 11-seed Edison.

We’ll have a full preview of the semis coming out Friday, but here’s a recap of Wednesday’s quarterfinal action, which all took place in four different locations after heavy rains Tuesday and Wednesday left the fields at North Brunswick Community Park – the traditional host of the quarterfinals – unplayable.

(5) St. Joseph-Metuchen 1, (12) Metuchen 0 (9 innings): For the second straight game in the GMCT, the Falcons (12-6) went to extra innings, and won in walk-off fashion by a score of 1-0. This time it was Luke Palermo who was the hero. J.P. Zayle walked on four pitches to lead off the inning, and Joseph Barca did the same on five, before Palermo hit the first pitch to center field for a single to score the game-winning run. The game saw only six hits – four by St. Joe’s and two by Metuchen (15-7) – and there were not many great opportunities to score throughout. Other than a walk to leadoff the game, the next six hitters for each team went down in order. In fact, no baserunner got past second until the fifth inning. The win went to Domenic Erbafina in relief, who threw both extra innings, coming in after Barca, the starter, allowed a leadoff single, then a walk in the eighth. But Erbafina got a groundout and a double play to escape.

(8) Spotswood 4, (16) South River 0: The Chargers got a solid outing from starter Will Buchan – five innings, no runs, one hit, one walk and six strikeouts – and it turns out an RBI double by Buchan scoring Carter Cumiskey in the first was all they would need. Click here for the game story by Mike Pavlicko and postgame reaction from Dom Savino with Buchan and head coach Glenny Fredricks.

(10) Middlesex 5, (2) South Plainfield 4: The Blue Jays might be the hottest team in the GMC after their win over the Tigers. Middlesex is now on a nine-game winning streak, including their first two games in the GMCT. They scored first, and often in this one, and held off a late rally by South Plainfield. Click here for the game story by Alec Crouthamel and postgame reaction with starting pitcher Dominic Long and head coach Blaze Iannetti.

(11) Edison 9, (3) St. Thomas Aquinas 1: The Eagles (12-9) did most of their scoring early in this one, getting three in the first and four in the third. An Anthony Calantoni double got it started, driving in a run, then Dom Innocenti plated two more with a double of his own to make it 3-0. In the second, a Connor Murphy single scored two, and a Sam Kentos single to left drove in two more to make it 7-0 Edison. Innocenti – who finished with four RBIs on the day – hit a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to make it 9-0, and Aquinas (13-7) got its run in the bottom of the inning and a single by Declan DiCarlo. Brayden Roma allowed just the one run and three hits, striking out ten in a complete game effort to get the win.

JIM MULDOWNEY GMC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
Saturday at East Brunswick Magnet School

Noon: (10) Middlesex (15-4) vs. (11) Edison (12-9)
2:30 pm: (5) St. Joseph-Metuchen vs. (8) Spotswood (15-5)